Shillong: Meghalaya Chief Electoral Officer Frederick Roy Kharkongor handed over the key to the strong room to Assembly secretariat officials after ballot box and election materials for the ensuing 16th Presidential election were kept inside it.
The ballot box and election materials arrived here late on Wednesday night and were received by the state election department.
Officials said that after the ballot box and the election material were locked inside the strong room, to the officials of the assembly
The elections are slated on July 18. The Meghalaya Democratic Alliance has 48 MLAs from different political parties and also independents, out of the total 60 legislators in the state.
However, a few from the alliance won’t be taking part in the election process due to their prior engagement outside the state.
“Of course there are two-three MLAs who will not be able to vote because they will not be in town and they have informed us ahead of time,” Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said.
Meanwhile apart from the 48 MLAs, there are two MP seats in Meghalaya. Moreover there are five suspended legislators, who have not spelled out their choice of candidate.
The NDA’s candidate is Draupadi Murmu while that of the opposition is Yashwant Sinha.
The suspended Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Ampareen Lyngdoh had recently expressed disappointment over the BJP’s failure to invite the five Congress legislators to a meeting seeking support for the NDA candidate on July 6 and said all five legislators would take a decision at an appropriate time.
